Raw Milk Safety

Many of the warnings about the dangers of raw milk stem from widespread illnesses that occurred in the early 1900’s. But compared to 100 years ago, dairy farmers today can take advantage of many advancements that contribute to a much safer product, including stainless steel machinery, refrigeration, and common sanitation measures. Testing, for both animal health and milk quality, are also more thorough than when pasteurization became commonplace.

National Data on Foodborne Illnesses

Nationwide, there were 1,414 illnesses, 80 hospitalizations, and 0 deaths attributed to raw milk in the 13 years between 1998 and 2010, or about 108 illnesses per year nationwide. The CDC does not indicate how many of these illnesses were attributed to raw milk that came from dairies that were not licensed to sell raw milk to consumers.

Dairies that are producing milk intended for pasteurization are not held to the same standards as Grade A Raw for Retail dairies, yet consumers often buy milk from these conventional dairies illegally. This “pre-pasteurization milk” poses a higher risk, as shown by the significantly higher incidence of positive pathogen tests from their bulk tanks. Thus, these numbers significantly overestimate the risk posed by raw milk from licensed, regulated dairies.

To put these numbers in context, there were 301,076 illnesses, 10,317 hospitalizations, and 223 deaths reported to the CDC in that time period from all foods. (Seewwwn.cdc.gov/foodborneoutbreaks) Consider the illnesses attributed to other foods:

The numbers of illnesses attributed to fruit salad, tuna, pizza, and deli meat are similar to those attributed to raw milk during this time period – with the exception that, unlike these foods, raw milk has not caused any deaths. (Note: the numbers for deli meats do notinclude sandwiches, which have caused many more illnesses.) While more people may consume these foods occasionally, few people consume these foods day-in and day-out, in contrast to raw milk.

To further put the numbers in context, consider the number of raw milk consumers. According to a CDC survey, an average of 3% of the population has drunk raw milk within the last 7 days. That translates to more than 9 million raw milk consumers. Out of 9+ million consumers, approximately 108 become sick each year allegedly from raw milk nationwide, or 0.001%.

One argument that has been raised against legalizing raw milk is that “if you make it easier to get raw milk legally, more people will drink raw milk, and more people will get sick.” While that argument is intuitively appealing, it is contradicted by the CDC’s data.

The chart above shows the consumption of raw milk in 10 states, the raw milk laws in each state, and the incidence of foodborne illnesses. All of the data is from the CDC for the 13-year period from 1998 to 2010.

First, note that in every state, the number of illnesses attributed to raw milk is a very small percentage of the total number of foodborne illnesses.

Second, there is no pattern indicating that making raw milk legally accessible increases consumption. Maryland (where raw milk sales are illegal) had the exact same percentage of people who had drunk raw milk within the last 7 days as California (where raw milk can be sold in grocery stores). And Georgia, where raw milk can only be sold as pet food, had the highest consumption rates of all.

Third, there is also no pattern of increasing rates of consumption correlating to increasing illnesses. The two states with the highest rates of consumption — Tennessee and Georgia — had lower rates of raw milk illnesses than the three states with the lowest rates of consumption — Minnesota, Colorado, and Connecticut.
How can this be true? There are most likely two reasons:

The risk of foodborne illness from raw milk is low enough that the outbreaks are sporadic and occasional. Because raw milk is not a high-risk food, the incidences of illness are too low to show a pattern.

The majority of raw milk drinkers are not buying their milk from licensed raw milk dairies. In other words, it appears that a significant majority of people drinking raw milk are getting it from un-licensed sources, whether it is their own milk cow/goat, the neighbor down the road, or a conventional dairy that is selling milk intended for pasteurization without meeting the regulatory standards for Raw for Retail milk.

Regulatory agencies, industry and medical groups have claimed that increasing legal access to raw milk is dangerous, but the data contradicts their claims.

Any food can be the source of foodborne illness under the wrong conditions. The issue isn’t whether some people have become sick from raw milk on occasion – the issue is whether raw milk poses such an unusually high level of risk that it justifies the government making it illegal to buy or placing barriers to marketing and access.